Infrared Layer

The IR Layer can be used to set up pass-through IR communication between DisplayNet devices. Similarly to RS-232, IR data may be sent from any DisplayNet endpoint (TX or RX) to any other DisplayNet endpoint (TX or RX). Bidirectional connectivity is also possible. Because of this, all transmitters and receivers will appear in the Sources panel and all transmitters and receivers will also appear in the Destinations panel.

The IR Layer is color-coded coral.

When two DisplayNet devices are joined together for IR communication, one is defined as a sender and the other as a listener. The result is a unidirectional data tunnel where all IR data coming into the sender's IR In port is transmitted over the network to the listener device using unicast IP protocol and the data is sent out on the receiver's IR Out port.

By default, when creating an IR route, DisplayNet Manager actually joins each device twice: once as a sender and again as a listener. This allows for bidirectional communication. This default behavior can be changed in the Settings Tab under Routing Options.

The Destinations panel also includes three (3) special IR destinations: All Receivers, All Transmitters, and All Devices. These destinations can be used to unidirectionally broadcast IR signals to large numbers of devices. When a source is joined to any of these three destinations, the return join is not automatically created. There is nothing that prevents multiple sender devices from being joined to a listener device. However, since IR data is sent one character at the time, data sent simultaneously from multiple senders will arrive at the listener in an arbitrary sequence (order). In this case, the device connected to the IR port will need to rely on a higher-level session or application protocol to separate incoming characters and reconstruct the data from individual devices.

 

It is important to understand that DisplayNet transmitters and receivers only pass-through RS-232 and IR communication. The endpoints themselves are controlled by DisplayNet Server using the network ports on each endpoint. DisplayNet Server can also be used for RS-232 and IR data injection. This is an advanced topic that should be discussed with DVIGear technical support.

 

Suppose an IR remote will be used to control a Blu-ray player by sending IR commands to play/pause video, access the menu, and adjust the settings. At the display, an IR receiver is connected to the DisplayNet receiver to capture IR signals from the remote control. At the source, an IR transmitter is connected to the DisplayNet transmitter to send IR signals to the Blu-ray player. Next, using the IR Routing Layer, the connection between the two DisplayNet devices is made. The Blu-ray player and the IR remote can then communicate over the established pass-through link.